Phytoecia (Helladia) pretiosa has been described from "Transcaucasia" by Franz Faldermann in 1837 [❖]. Later this taxon was considered a nominative subspecies to Phytoecia (Helladia) pretiosa fatima Ganglbauer, 1884, but now P. fatima is again a separate species. But the discussions about the taxonomic relationship between P. pretiosa and P. fatima are far from over...

Body length:	10 - 12 mm
Life cycle:	1 year
Adults in:	May - June
Host plant:	thistles - Asteraceae
Distribution:	Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan), Iran, Turkey

The depicted beetle was collected in Kasristskali (კასრისწყალი) village environs (615 m a.s.l., Vashlovani National Park, Kakheti region, Eastern Georgia) on May 16, 2017.

Collected by M. Harnych

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[❖]
Faldermann F.:
Fauna entomologica Transcaucasica. Coleoptera 2. Longicornes vel Capricornes.
Nouveaux Mémoires de la Société Impériale des Naturalistes de Moscou 5 (2): 1-433 [pages 298-299], 1837. [download ]

Özdikmen H. and Turgut S.:
An overview on the W-palaearctic subgenus Phytoecia (Helladia) Fairmaire, 1864 with a new subspecies Phytoecia (Helladia) humeralis caneri ssp. n. from Turkey (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Lamiinae).
Munis Entomology & Zoology 5 (2): 317-343, 2010. [download ]

Sama G.:
Note sur les Helladia Fairmaire, 1864 du groupe pretiosa Faldermann avec description d'une nouvelle race d'Irak.
Biocosme Mesogéen 11: 31-36, 1994. [download ]

Cocquempot Ch., Weill P. and Kabátek P.:
Contribution à la connaissance des Coléoptères Cerambycidae de Syrie (Coleoptera)
Revue de l'Association Roussillonnaise d'Entomologie (R.A.R.E.) 29 (3): 215-224, 2020. [download ]